Locking stove control knob shield and safety apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to a locking stove control knob shield and safety apparatus which provides a combination of easy attachment with complete “childproof” protection usable on a variety of types and brands of stoves without damage to the stove through attachment and removal.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

This invention was not federally sponsored.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The idea of a stove originated in numerous cultures several thousandyears ago, with several Chinese stoves dating back to the Han Dynasty.The first historical record of a stove in Europe dates from a brick andtile stove built during the 1400's in France. The 1700's saw BenjaminFranklin invent the Franklin stove, which was an iron furnace stove.There were further improvements during the 1800's, which saw emergenceof coal, electric, and gas stoves.

By the early 1900's the gas stove was the most popular stove in theUnited States. As with any apparatus combining fire and gas, the gasstove presented an inherent danger of creating house fires. This dangerremains today. For example, as of the date of this application, anaverage of three children die every day from house fires, a residentialfire is started once every 78 seconds, and cooking fires are the #1cause of home fires and home fire injuries. Many of these fires arecaused by children who unknowingly or carelessly turn on or off thestove control knobs.

In an effort to prevent such accidents, there have been a number ofprior devices and methods invented. Since the current invention focuseson a method of preventing children from carelessly turning on or off aburner, this discussion will emphasize prior inventions directed atsolving this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,105 B1 to Merrittteaches a stove burner shield with folding splashguards and a protectivecover with a locking knob to cover the control knobs. While thisinvention appears to provide a locking cover for the control knobs, itrequires fasteners (reference number 34 on the '105 patent) to attachthe invention to the stove. Obviously the drilling of any holes into astove to attach a safety device not only damages the stove and makesremoval of the device likely to leave an unsightly appearance, but mayvoid any warranty and perhaps even damage the stove if the holes weredrilled in the wrong locations. The invention of this patent solves thisproblem by hooking on under the stove top and does so without requiringany holes to be drilled or fasteners of any type being used.

The prior art also references several devices invented to make controlknobs safer for use in an environment where occasionally unsupervisedchildren live. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,878 to Lewis et al.teaches a safety knob with a releasable lock assembly and U.S. Pat. No.4,300,525 issued to Delgado et al. teaches a control knob with abuilt-in spur which impedes the ability of a child to easily turn thegas on. Such devices serve to make it more difficult for a child to turna burner on and off, but do not completely eliminate that possibilityand do not have the ability to use a key or padlock to truly secure.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,524 to Elasser teaches a mechanical device which isincluded in the manufacture of a stove which has an intricate series ofmetal bars attached to a switch located toward the back of the stove,whereby an adult can turn the knob and the metal bars then lock thecontrol knobs such that the burners cannot be turned on without first“unlocking” the switch. While this device would serve to prevent a childfrom turning on a burner (unless the child was tall enough to reach theswitch or industrious enough to haul a chair or other device next to thestove to allow access to the switch), it must be built into the stoveduring its assembly and cannot be added on later as an accessoryfeature. It does also not have a padlock or key feature which wouldsecure the control knobs from a creative child who figures out a way toclimb on the stove. The current invention provides a childproof featurebut is less complicated, does not have to be manufactured as part of thestove, and should it break, can be fixed without opening the maininternal compartment of the stove.

In summary, while there are attempts in the prior art to “childproof”stoves, none provide the combination of easy attachment with complete“childproof” protection in a stove safety device usable on a variety oftypes and brands of stoves without damage to the stove throughattachment. Accordingly, there is a long felt need for such a device.

This invention solves the problems mentioned above by providing a shieldwhich can be easily and safely attached to a wide variety of stoves.Attaching the invention does not damage the stoves, and can be used withstoves which have the control knobs on the front, and on the top, of thestove. Among the devices which can be used to “childproof” the stovesare rack and pinion gears, locking and double locking pin assemblies,padlocks and combination locks, and locking pin/cotter pin assemblies.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a childproofdevice for gas and electric stoves.

It is a further object of this invention that it can be attached to thestoves (and removed from them) in a non-destructive and simple manner,and does not have to be built into the stoves during their manufacture.

It is a further object of this invention that the invention is usable ina variety of different types and brands of stoves with no modificationsof the device prior to use.

Other and further objects and features of this invention will beapparent to one skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the invention showing the basiccomponents of the invention: two pieces of metal attached by a hinge,with the covering piece extending inside the stove under the stove topand hooking into place over the lip of the front section of the stoveextending back in away from the front of the stove serving to affix thedevice to the stove, and the second piece rotably movable such that itcan swing down and cover the control knobs.

FIG. 2 is a partial, side view of the means of attachment portion of theinvention, showing how the hook portion of the covering piece of metalslides into the interior of the stove and hooks over the lip of thefront section of the stove.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the invention showing the invention detachedfrom a stove, with particular attention paid to the location of thevarious holes for hold down screws and locking bolts.

FIG. 4 is an elevational side view of another iteration of the inventionwhere the invention is designed to cover control knobs mounted on thetop, rather than they front, of the stove.

FIG. 5 is side view of the Locking Pin Assembly and the Cotter Pin.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the double locking pin used to childproof tostove control knobs.

FIG. 7 is a side view of another proposed means of childproofing thestove control knobs, namely, a pinion gear controlled by a square orother uniquely shaped key kept by the parents in a safe place.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a locking pin and cotter pin, which are usedtogether in a manner that allows a user knowledgeable in the orientationof the cotter pin to insert or remove it only when a dot on the visiblehead of the locking pin is aligned with a similar dot on the surface ofthe control knob shield.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the invention showing the location of theswinging wing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a locking stove control knob shieldand safety apparatus which provides a combination of easy attachmentwith complete “childproof” protection usable on a variety of types andbrands of stoves without damage to the stove through attachment andremoval.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, and, for adifferent iterations, FIG. 4, the invention consists of two pieces ofmolded metal, attached to each other by a hinge, the first piece ofmetal, called the attachment piece, sliding into the gap between the toppanel of the stove and the front panel to secure the invention; thesecond piece of metal, called the covering piece, swinging down (or up,depending on the location of the burner control knobs) and preventingaccess to the stove control knobs by covering them up and lockingsecurely in a variety of ways which are explained further below. Theinvention also contains a number of locking means and mechanisms,including padlocks and combination locks, locking pins and doublelocking pins, and cotter pin assemblies.

Referring specifically to FIG. 1, the invention (generally indicated byreference number 1) has four basic components. A covering piece (3)attached to an attachment piece (2) by means of a hinge (4). Theinvention also has a means to lock the device over the burner controlknobs, the means here is a locking pin (5), but there are a number ofdifferent potential means. The attachment piece (2) slides in theinsertion gap (10) between the stove top panel (6) and the stove frontpanel (7) and hooks over a lip on the front panel of the stove (7) (thismethod of attachment is more clearly detailed in FIG. 2). For purposesof illustration, the top panel of the stove (6) has burners (9). Thecovering piece (3) can be swung down using the hinge (4) to cover thestove burner control knobs (8), and is designed to be long enough tocover the stove control knobs (8), but no so long as to interfere withoven handle (10) which is used to open and close the oven (11).

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the invention, paying particular detail tothe method by which the device is attached inside of the stove and themechanism by which it is secured to prevent a child from turning thecontrol knobs. In this iteration, the securing mechanism is a lockplaced through a hole at the end of a pin, but there are numerous othersecuring mechanisms suggested in this application. The invention,generally indicated by reference number 20, has an attachment piece (21)attached by a hinge (23) to a covering piece (22). The attachment piece(21) swings down from the hinge (23) to cover the stove burner controlknob (27) which projects out from the outer face of the stove frontpanel (24). There is a hole (29A) in the attachment piece (21) throughwhich a bolt (28) can slide. There is a corresponding hold (29A) at thebottom of the covering piece (22) through which the bottom of the bolt(28) can protrude. To secure the invention, a lock (29) is placedthrough a hole (29B) in the bottom of the bolt (28). The stove frontpanel (24) has an upper portion or lip (25) which bends in to theinterior of the stove, creating a resting place for the top panel of thestove (28), shown here with a burner (29). The covering piece of theinvention (21) slips in between the top panel of the stove (28) and thefront panel of the stove (24). The distal end of the attachment piece ofthe covering piece (21) is indicated by reference number 26. Note thatthe distal end of the covering piece (26) is bent in a hook shape suchthat it can easily hook over the lip of the front panel of the stove(25), thereby securing the invention to the stove in a manner which isnot only easy to install and remove without damage to the stove, butalso allows the invention to be used universally with a wide variety oftypes and brands of stoves which have lips similar to the lip (25) thatis shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the invention showing the design which wouldbe used with a safety bolt, which is described in FIG. 6. The invention,generally indicated by reference number 30, has a covering piece (32)and an attachment piece (31) attached by a hinge (33). The attachmentpiece (31) has a hook portion (37) by which the invention is attached tothe lip of the front panel of the stove as illustrated in FIG. 2. Theattachment piece (31) has a hole (34) through which a hold-down screw(not shown) can be inserted to secure the attachment piece (31) to thestove if a greater degree of attachment (as compared with the hook andlip assembly described in FIG. 2) is desired. FIG. 3 also shows themethod of attachment for a safety bolt (shown and described in FIG. 6).The attachment piece of the invention (31) has a square bolt hole (35)which serves to prevent rotation of the safety bolt (shown and describedin FIG. 6). The covering piece of the invention (32) also has a roundhole in it (36) through which the safety bolt will fit. The safety boltcan then be secured with a lock or other means.

FIG. 4. is an elevational view of another iteration of the inventionwhich provides a safety cover over stove burner control knobs which aremounted on the top of the stove rather than on the front panel of thestove as was illustrated in FIGS. 1-3. The invention, generallyreferenced as number 40, has a covering piece (41) and an attachmentpiece (42) attached to each other by a hinge (45). The covering piece(41) extends over the top panel of the stove (44) and covers the stoveburner control knobs (47). The covering piece (41) also has a squarehole (46) through which the safety bolt, later illustrated and describedin FIG. 6, will fit. The attachment piece (42) slides into the gapbetween the top panel of the stove (44) and the front panel of the stove(43) by a method illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5. is an elevational view of the iteration of the invention shownin FIG. 4, showing in more detail the working parts. The invention,generally indicated by reference number 50, has an attachment piece (52)attached by a hinge (53) to a covering piece (51). In this iteration,the covering piece (51) extends up and over the top panel of the stove.The attachment piece (52) is molded such that it extends down from thehinge (53) and enters the interior cavity of the stove in the gapbetween the top panel and front panel.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the safety bolt assembly. The safety boltassembly, consists of a safety bolt, generally referenced by referencenumber 60, a nut (65) and a cotter pin (68). The safety bolt (60) has abolt head (61) with a dot (67) which is located on exactly the sameaspect of the bolt as is the drill hole (66) described later in thisfigure, such that by viewing the location of the dot (67) a user knowsthe exact aspect and location of the hole (66) located at the distal end(64) of the safety bolt (60). Below the bolt head (61) is a squaresection (62) designed to fit into the square holes illustrated anddescribed in FIG. 3, number 35, and FIG. 4, number 46. The squareportion (62) allows the bolt to be locked in place through its fittingthrough the square holes (not shown in this figure). Below the squareportion (62) is a shank (63) which is round to allow it to easily slideup and down and turn freely whenever the square portion (62) is notseated in the square hole (not shown). The shank (63) has a distal endfurthest away from the bolt head (64) through which there is a hole(66), drilled exactly parallel to the dot (67) on the bolt head (61),through which a cotter pin (68) can be inserted, and threads (69) overwhich the nut (65) can be screwed on. The safety bolt is design to beused by an adult so that the adult locates the bottom of the pin (theportion with threads (69), and then pushes up to free to square portion(62) from the square hole (not shown). By aligning the dot (67) in thebolt head (61), a user can easily remove the cotter pin (68) from thehole (66) in the distal end (64) of the safety bolt (60). Once thecotter pin (68) is removed, a user can push the safety bolt (60) higherand easily open the covering piece (not shown in this figure).

FIG. 7 is a side view of another means by which a stove can bechildproofed. The device, generally indicated by reference number 70,consists of two elongated rectangular or square pieces of metal or otherhard, durable material, into which have been molded or cut matchinggrooves. A pinion gear (72) can be rotated by a user who has a specialkey (generally indicated by reference number 76) which fits over anupper end (75) of the pinion gear (72) such that a rack pinion (71) canbe raised or lowered by a multiplicity of grooves of the pinion gear(74) turning the grooves of the rack pinion (73), thereby securing orunsecuring the invention (not shown) from a position where it issecuring or making accessible the stove control knobs (not shown). Thespecial key (76), has a handle portion (77), which is flat andconvenient for a user to turn with his/her fingers and thumb, and acircular section (generally indicated by reference number 79), which hasa cavity (78) which is the same size and shape as the upper end (75) ofthe pinion gear (72), and can be easily slipped over the upper end (75)of the pinion gear (72) or removed. The pinion gear (72) is designed tobe only rotatable when the special key (76) is used, so that a childcannot detach the invention and turn on the stove control knobs withoutthe special key (76).

FIG. 8 is a side view of a locking pin assembly, (generally indicated byreference number 80). There are two parts of this device, a locking pin,(generally indicated by reference number 89), and a cotter pin (82). Thelocking pin has a painted dot (81) on its head (83), which is the upperportion of the locking pin (89). The lower end (87) of the locking pin(89) is separated from its head (83) by a shaft (85). Directly beneaththe head (83) is a rectangular section (84) which fits into a slightlylarger rectangular section of the stove shield (not shown). Toward thelower end of the locking pin (83) is a hole (86) through which thecotter pin (82) can fit. The object here is that a user must turn andadjust the head (83) such that the painted dot (81) is in the properalignment to insert or remove the cotter pin (82) from the hole (86) inthe locking pin (89).

1. A safety apparatus designed to serve as a locking stove control knobshield, comprising: an attachment piece which attaches to a stove; acovering piece which can be rotated up or down depending on the locationof stove burner control knobs to cover them; and a hinge connecting theattachment piece to the covering piece.
 2. The attachment piece of claim1, where, the attachment piece has an end section that fits in betweenthe top panel and front panel of the stove and is bent into a hook shapesuch that the attachment piece can hook over the lip of said front panelof stove extending back into the interior of the stove.
 3. The safetyapparatus of claim 1, where, the attachment piece is manufactured with around hole in it capable of taking through it a hold down screw suchthat the hold down screw.
 4. The safety apparatus of claim 3, where, Theattachment piece is manufactured with a square hold in it capable oftaking through it a bolt with a square section located directly belowthe bolt head.
 5. The safety apparatus of claim 4, where, The coveringpiece is manufactured with a round hold in it capable of taking throughit a bolt, said round hole located such that it lines up with the squarehold in the attachment piece.
 6. The safety apparatus of claim 5, where,Extending through the square hole in the attachment piece and the roundhole in the covering piece is a means to secure the covering piece suchthat said covering piece covers the stove control knobs and preventssaid stove control knobs from being touched while said covering piece isin place.
 7. The safety apparatus of claim 6, where, The means ofsecuring is a safety bolt, comprising, a round bolt head of a diameterlarger than the square hole in the attachment piece, a square sectiondirectly below said round head, said square section of a size which fitsexactly into said square hole in said attachment piece, a round shanksection below said square section, a distal end at the other end of saidsafety bolt containing threads over which a nut could be screwed on, anda hole in said distal end directly above said threads, said hole ofsuitable diameter to take through it a cotter pin.
 8. The safetyapparatus of claim 7, where, the hole is the distal end of the safetybolt is large enough to take through it the bar of a padlock.
 9. Thesafety apparatus of claim 5, where, the means of securing is a rack andpinion gear apparatus.
 10. The rack and pinion gear apparatus of claim9, where, the top of the pinion gear is of a square or other uniqueshape such that it can be turned only by a key of the same shape, saidkey being detachable from said pinion gear such that an adult using astove could take the key with them to prevent children from opening thecovering piece and accessing the stove control knobs.
 11. The safetyapparatus of claim 6, where, The means of securing is a key lock builtinto the covering plate, consisting of, a key assembly extending out ofsaid covering plate, and a safety bolt.
 12. The safety apparatus ofclaim 6 where, The means of securing is a “U”-shaped piece of metalextending out from the lip of the stove, protruding through a slot inthe covering plate, through which the shackle of a lock, either acombination lock or a key lock, and be inserted, and the lock secured.